Another Harmony Review

[RSLeesburg]

Any reason why you didn' go to Coastal Kitchen for dinner?

 

 

To be honest, we just ran out of time. On evenings where my wife and I wanted to catch a show, we took our son to WJ and then to kids club. If we did not have reservations at specialty restaurant, we just ate with him at WJ. On the first night we went to Johnny Rockets, we had reservation at Izumi but I cancelled when I found out they removed hot rock from menu, and we ate at Sabor, 150 Central Park, and Wonderland. That was 5 of our 7 nights. we needed a few extra nights and I am sure we would have gone to CK for dinner once or twice.

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

This is very disappointing. We will be on Harmony in Feb. in a Star Class suite. I had heard that they were slowly stripping these Star Class perks and I'm sorry to hear that it is continuing.

 

 

 

The Luggage Valet thing is apparently screwed up all around. I hear some of the ships aren't offering it at all anymore. I hated hearing that. I LOVE the Luggage Valet service and I am very upset that they are charging for it. I guess I am just happy to hear that Harmony has it at ALL. Did you have to pay the $25 PP in the end ? I think we will dispute it if they try and charge us.

 

 

 

The spa thing is going to be a point of contention for us as well. I also have the original flyer showing that 7 day thermal spa pass. Did you have any trouble getting them to honor that ?

 

 

 

I have been told, over and over again, not to bother making any [specialty] dining reservations...that our Genie will be able to get us into any restaurant we want...but I am a little nervous hearing that the specialty dining room reservations were so booked up. I guess I will make that a point of discussion when we establish contact with the Genie before the cruise.

 

 

I would look to see what other cruises are seeing for the specialty dinning. We were on Thanksgiving cruise, and there were many, many large family groups. When we boarded, they were not even offering specialty dining packages because they had so many pre-cruise bookings. If you want a specific restaurant on a specific date or at a specific time, my advice is to pre-book. If you are completely flexible, then wait till you board.

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

Hello to everyone! I loved your review! We are travelling next february and will be visiting the same islands. It'll be our first TIME with RC.

We are know, reserving Shore excursions. We' ve been at Jamaica before and done the dune River falls wich we loved. Reading you've done the River tubes I want to know if you consider they are good for a 12 Years old boy. We saw Videos and noticed that you go all hand to hand you say? And think they are very easy...

Sorry for my english. I speak spanish.

All the info you can give me about excursions in the same ports will be very welcome!!

Thanks!

Irina

 

 

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We took our 7 year old and he loved it. It is fairly lazy river and beautiful scenery. For a 12 y/o, I might combine the river tubing with zip line - that looked totally awesome. We could see people flying through the trees from the river, and I think there are a series of zip lines so not just one.

 

 

 

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[irishca]

Thanks!!

 

 

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[vacationlover_mn]

Thanks for the great review :)

[rbschultz]

As I have stated in other reviews, we are not MDR people. In our four cruises, we have only eaten once in the MDR – the first night of our very first cruise. We had such a bad experience, we walked out during the main course and have never been back since.

 

May I ask what happened?

 

My worst experience with the MDR was a pile-on. Our waiter was yelling at his assistant waiter, and was generally awful to begin with. We wanted to complain to the head waiter, but after asking several different waiters to get him for us he never showed. One of our party walked to Guest Services and asked for the restaurant manager. We spoke with him about our issue. Our entire wait staff was replaced (including the head waiter whom still hadn't shown up) and the restaurant manager (or whatever his title is) was around for the rest of the cruise.

 

In terms of food quality, I've got no idea what to tell you sorry :(. Food has been generally good in the MDR.

[RSLeesburg]

May I ask what happened?

 

 

 

My worst experience with the MDR was a pile-on. Our waiter was yelling at his assistant waiter, and was generally awful to begin with. We wanted to complain to the head waiter, but after asking several different waiters to get him for us he never showed. One of our party walked to Guest Services and asked for the restaurant manager. We spoke with him about our issue. Our entire wait staff was replaced (including the head waiter whom still hadn't shown up) and the restaurant manager (or whatever his title is) was around for the rest of the cruise.

 

 

 

In terms of food quality, I've got no idea what to tell you sorry :(. Food has been generally good in the MDR.

 

 

In our case it was combination of things

 

First, we arrived and noticed that some people were sitting at our table. They said they needed a bigger table for their group so switched tables with us. Our table was located right next to Captain's table and theirs was located right next to the dirty dishes. So before we even arrived to eat, they moved our table without asking - which I think was kind of rude to do.

 

Second, we had a head waitress who pushed the wine package very aggressively after we told her no several times, and then was rude when we would not purchase any alcohol (we do not drink). I found it completely unacceptable to keep pushing alcohol after we politely declined the first time. She even said, "what's the matter, you don't have to drive tonight." I found this comment to be offensive.

 

Third, our son, who had just turned 4, was overwhelmed by the number of people and noise in the MDR. He had serious ear infections and had just gotten his second set of tubes so was very sensitive to loud noises. He ate his grilled cheese and asked if we could leave as soon as he was finished. I could tell that he was upset, so we left our table and started to walk out.

 

Finally as we were walking out, our rude waitress stopped me and demanded to know why we were leaving before the meal was finished. You would have thought that I was sitting at my table in my bathrobe smoking by the tone she used. That was final straw. When we reached the hallway I told my wife that we would not be going back.

 

Now, I suppose we could have just spoken the the concierge and gotten reassigned to another table, but we were so turned off by the whole experience we decided it was not worth the bother. Instead we found a nice table just outside WJ (this was on Grandeur) and ate there. Our son loved watching the waves and we loved the ambiance. It was more relaxing and the WJ staff were awesome!

 

 

 

 

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[rbschultz]

In our case it was combination of things

 

First, we arrived and noticed that some people were sitting at our table. They said they needed a bigger table for their group so switched tables with us. Our table was located right next to Captain's table and theirs was located right next to the dirty dishes. So before we even arrived to eat, they moved our table without asking - which I think was kind of rude to do.

 

Second, we had a head waitress who pushed the wine package very aggressively after we told her no several times, and then was rude when we would not purchase any alcohol (we do not drink). I found it completely unacceptable to keep pushing alcohol after we politely declined the first time. She even said, "what's the matter, you don't have to drive tonight." I found this comment to be offensive.

 

Third, our son, who had just turned 4, was overwhelmed by the number of people and noise in the MDR. He had serious ear infections and had just gotten his second set of tubes so was very sensitive to loud noises. He ate his grilled cheese and asked if we could leave as soon as he was finished. I could tell that he was upset, so we left our table and started to walk out.

 

Finally as we were walking out, our rude waitress stopped me and demanded to know why we were leaving before the meal was finished. You would have thought that I was sitting at my table in my bathrobe smoking by the tone she used. That was final straw. When we reached the hallway I told my wife that we would not be going back.

 

Now, I suppose we could have just spoken the the concierge and gotten reassigned to another table, but we were so turned off by the whole experience we decided it was not worth the bother. Instead we found a nice table just outside WJ (this was on Grandeur) and ate there. Our son loved watching the waves and we loved the ambiance. It was more relaxing and the WJ staff were awesome!

 

 

 

 

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Yeah that's a brutal experience. My family definitely would have fought that table move. Being seated next to the busing station is horrible. The clanging of the silverware is one of my mothers biggest pet peeves and bothers her to no end. I definitely wouldn't consider your experience the norm and hopefully you'll give it another shot someday :).

[RSLeesburg]

Yeah that's a brutal experience. My family definitely would have fought that table move. Being seated next to the busing station is horrible. The clanging of the silverware is one of my mothers biggest pet peeves and bothers her to no end. I definitely wouldn't consider your experience the norm and hopefully you'll give it another shot someday :).

 

 

lol... we were going to try this year on Harmony. We even brought our son's sport coat, but after we heard how awful the service was in MDR on Harmony, we thought - we can wait till next cruise. [emoji1].

 

 

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[bookcrazy1]

My 2 cents on the Harmony. DH, myself, our 17 YO son and his friend sailed her on 11/19.

 

This was my 23 cruise. Have only cruised Carnival and RCI. Harmony was not our first Oasis class ship.

 

EMBARKATION - it was a breeze. We took an Uber from the hotel to the port around 11:00 and was on board by noon. Not sure I cared for getting the Sail and Sign card once in your room. We had the Premium Drink package and staff was not able to see that from the boarding pass. They did take our word for it but was a small glitch.

 

We had a balcony state room on Deck 11. Room layout was a bit different than the Allure or the Oasis. Not sure if bigger or just designed better but was very nice. No complaints at all. The balcony lounge chairs had ottomans. Nice touch.

 

FOOD - We prefer the specialty dining rooms. We LOVED Izumi and had it twice. Jamie's was disappointing. Bad service and bad food. Chops was very good. Sabor was awful. Terrible food and service. Surprising as we have enjoyed it in the past. The quacamole was awesome. The only good thing of the visit. We did the MDR once and was pleasantly surprised. We had my time dining and waited maybe 10 minutes for a table. Food and service was excellent.

 

Bar service was good in the casino and in Central Park. That's primarily where we went.

 

ENTERTAINMENT - We are not show people so I can't really review this area. We use cruises primarily to relax. We spend a lot of time on our balcony and just hanging out in a quiet area.

 

PORTS - No complaints really. If it was up to me I would be happy not even getting off the ship. LOL DH insists on it though. We always do the ship sponsored excursions and they were just fine. The ferry ride on Cozymel was a nightmare but they always are.

 

SERVICE - Our room steward "Tut" was awesome. He went above and beyond for us. No complaints at all. Some bad service in the restuarants as mentioned earlier but everything else all good.

 

DISEMBARKATION - Crowded as usual. Nothing different. We weren't leaving until the next day so we requested the latest departure time. We used the new Mobile Passport option and the line did seem to be shorter. Don't really understand the purpose as we still had to show our passports.

 

In summary, we enjoyed our cruise tremendously and would recommend the Harmony.

[Carole2313]

To the poster who asked about the Thermal Package; no, they would not honor the list of perks I printed last summer, but we're only Sky Class sailing in a Grand Suite. I have no idea if Royal has messed with the Star Class perks. Hubby is going to Guess Services in the morning to dispute the luggage valet charges.

 

 

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[Carole2313]

Wow, just saw the Star Class perks on the Next Cruise channel in our Suite. Your week long Thermal Spa perk is now a one day pass. And our one day pass is totally gone.

 

 

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[LisaT91403]

Thanks for the great review.

 

We are doing the same itinerary on 12/17 with our 8 year old son. We have booked the zip line in Jamaica...sounds like we made a good choice!

 

I wanted to ask if you took your kiddo to Grease. I am on the fence because of the questionable theme/language. I'm not sure if that stuff will go over his head or not, as I know he'd enjoy the singing and dancing.

 

Were there any Adventure Ocean activities that your son especially enjoyed?

 

Thanks again!

[kdnurs]

The entertainment on Harmony was unbelievable. We saw Grease on the first night and it was excellent. It felt just like a West End show. We also saw Columbus, which was quirky but also very well done. The Fine Line was so amazing, we saw it twice. We also saw Hideaway Heist – it was lighter and fun, but also fantastic. We did not manage to see either ice show - it is really hard to cram in everything there is to do on this fantastic ship. We did take our son to see Trolls in 3D in the main theater twice. It was a great movie and was a nice break in the afternoon. Here is a list of the shows for our cruise.

 

Hi..I will be sailing in 3 weeks with 4 grandchildren. What times in the afternoon will TROLLS be shown? I have never seen a movie on an oasis class ship to date and it IS on my to-do list this cruise:D THANKS!!!

[RSLeesburg]

Hi..I will be sailing in 3 weeks with 4 grandchildren. What times in the afternoon will TROLLS be shown? I have never seen a movie on an oasis class ship to date and it IS on my to-do list this cruise:D THANKS!!!

 

 

On our cruise, they played it twice - around 3-3:30pm each time on two of the sea days in the main theater. They had Branch and Poppy there for meet and greet before each show, so try to get there a bit early.

 

PS: they also play a movie almost every day at noon in the AO theater. They had Angry Birds, Secret Lives of Pets, Finding Dory, and The Jungle Book playing there. They also showed Miss Peregrine's in 3D in the main theater.

 

 

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[rbschultz]

On our cruise, they played it twice - around 3-3:30pm each time on two of the sea days in the main theater. They had Branch and Poppy there for meet and greet before each show, so try to get there a bit early.

 

PS: they also play a movie almost every day at noon in the AO theater. They had Angry Birds, Secret Lives of Pets, Finding Dory, and The Jungle Book playing there. They also showed Miss Peregrine's in 3D in the main theater.

 

 

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Miss Peregrines was excellent (in my opinion). I might check it out in 3D though when I'm on in 2 months.

[LisaT91403]

To RSLeesburg...not sure if you saw my earlier post (below). Hoping to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the great review.

 

We are doing the same itinerary on 12/17 with our 8 year old son. We have booked the zip line in Jamaica...sounds like we made a good choice!

 

I wanted to ask if you took your kiddo to Grease. I am on the fence because of the questionable theme/language. I'm not sure if that stuff will go over his head or not, as I know he'd enjoy the singing and dancing.

 

Were there any Adventure Ocean activities that your son especially enjoyed?

 

Thanks again!

[RSLeesburg]

To RSLeesburg...not sure if you saw my earlier post (below). Hoping to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

 

Hi Lisa,

 

Sorry, I must have missed your earlier post. We debated on whether or not to take our son to Grease. He is 7, so fairly close in age. I was not worried about the adult content, but the length of the musical. As it happened, our son wanted to go to club the first night, so my wife and I went alone. The adult content might raise some questions, but I think he would have loved the songs and dancing. It is fairly high energy show, but it is long. We did take him to see Columbus, and he seemed a bit bored. He liked the ship, which is amazing. We did take him to both water shows, and he seemed to like both. Last year on Freedom, we took him to the ice show and he loved that. So, my recommendations would be - try the ice and/or water shows first, and go see Grease the first night to see what you think. Honestly, there is SO much for kids to do on the ship, you will not be able to do everything. :D

 

In terms of the kids club, I think he just likes to hang with other kids and get a break from mom and dad. I will say that one huge hit with the kids - and our son, was the bionic bar. Our son met a little girl at the water show, and they decided they needed after the show, so her parents and us walked down to the bionic bar and bought the Shirley Temples. After that, our son wanted to "go to the bar and grab a drink" every night.

 

I do not remember any specific activities that he talked about other than the pillow case. They give them a pillow case and color it with magic markers. He has three already, but loves doing that. I think we may have missed the science lab activities. Those look like fun.

[LisaT91403]

We debated on whether or not to take our son to Grease. He is 7, so fairly close in age. I was not worried about the adult content, but the length of the musical. As it happened, our son wanted to go to club the first night, so my wife and I went alone. The adult content might raise some questions, but I think he would have loved the songs and dancing. It is fairly high energy show, but it is long. We did take him to see Columbus, and he seemed a bit bored. He liked the ship, which is amazing. We did take him to both water shows, and he seemed to like both. Last year on Freedom, we took him to the ice show and he loved that. So, my recommendations would be - try the ice and/or water shows first, and go see Grease the first night to see what you think. Honestly, there is SO much for kids to do on the ship, you will not be able to do everything. :D

 

Thanks for the info. My son is almost 9, and is an experienced theater-goer. I'm not worried about the length of the show -- Wicked was 2 1/2 hours, and it was no problem. I will continue to think about the content, though.

 

I am well aware that we won't get to everything! We have done Oasis and Allure...and still haven't done everything. Looking forward to trying some of the new stuff on Harmony!

 

In terms of the kids club, I think he just likes to hang with other kids and get a break from mom and dad. I will say that one huge hit with the kids - and our son, was the bionic bar. Our son met a little girl at the water show, and they decided they needed after the show, so her parents and us walked down to the bionic bar and bought the Shirley Temples. After that, our son wanted to "go to the bar and grab a drink" every night.

 

Sounds like something my son would like as well. He'd be figuring out how he could build the bionic arm with his Lego :-)

 

Thanks for the info!

[dianfarmer]

What restaurants are complimentary

[rbschultz]

What restaurants are complimentary

 

http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/ship/harmony-of-the-seas/dining/

[mglg]

Loved the review. Would you please post the Compass for your western sailing. The one in the live review is hard to read.

Thank you in advance

[RSLeesburg]

Loved the review. Would you please post the Compass for your western sailing. The one in the live review is hard to read.

 

Thank you in advance

 

 

Yes. I will try to scan and post these over the weekend.

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/ship/harmony-of-the-seas/dining/

 

 

The only one missing is Mini Bites, which is located near sports deck. They have breakfast and lunch, and might be open for dinner too - just hamburgers, hot dogs, and nachos, but nice for a quick bite.

 

Edit: this one is also free.

 

 

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Edited December 9, 2016 by RSLeesburg

[mglg]

Thank you RSLeesburg